Heartless Legacy (Heartless Heirs of Canyon Falls #4)

63. Thea

Chapter 63

Thea

D estruction surrounds me. The once white walls are painted red. I stand in the middle of the carnage, the embodiment of the monster they made me. A hysterical laugh bubbles out of me, as I move to stand over the man who liked to yank my chains, forcing the cuffs to cut into my ankle so badly that I swore he’d reach bone before it could ever fully heal.

I hadn’t planned to do more than sit back and watch while the Phoenix agents took care of him. I told myself I just needed to see his face when they captured him, and that would be justice enough. But I was wrong. I was so wrong.

I tell him, “I didn’t think I’d be able to stay standing if I had to come this close to you. I was wondering what it would feel like. If a part of me would feel free. Now I know.”

His eyes widen as I push my baklava down. I don’t need to hide my face. He’ll never tell anyone what happened, because he’ll be locked away for a long, long time. Even if he gets free, who will he tell without having to reveal what he did to me? What I’m sure he’s done to so many patients over the years in service to Dr. Psycho.

“I have a friend who likes chains, too.” I say, softly. “Only his lock to overhead meat hooks. He pulls them tight, suspending his clients by their wrists, while he practices drawing.” I try to picture Finn and what he’d do with this guy. “Some might say it’s barbaric, but I’m starting to see the appeal.” Shaking my head, I say, “That’s his thing, and I don’t want to borrow his technique without permission. I’m not sure I’d do it justice.”

I nod towards the two mercenaries. “I have a lot of anger. Childhood trauma and all that. I used to work that out in the ring. I like MMA. Did you know that? I used to fight for money in underground fight rings and was pretty good too. I haven’t been able to do that since our time together.”

I inhale, fighting through the tightness in my chest. “You see, I’m having sensory issues. Between being forced to take a beating, and then being drugged into thinking I’m fighting, ruined that hobby for me.”

The guys hold his hands, forcing him against the wall. “Now this isn’t a fair fight, and ordinarily I loathe cheating, but I’m still dealing with those pesky ass flashbacks.” I explain. “I struggle with being touched, so I have to have utter and complete control or I get a little. Triggered. ” I flash my knife. “Nobody likes a triggered Thea.”

I hand my knife to the agent on the left. I have more, but that one was a gift from Alexz. It slices through everything with barely any pressure. This man needs to be questioned. I don’t want to risk slitting his throat.

“My therapist. God bless her, believes alternative immersion therapy might be the best treatment to help me recover. Now, I was already against therapists before your boss fucked with my head. So you can imagine my thoughts about therapy now. But her? She tries to work with me, and my reluctance to accept help, and I’m trying to do the work, because my boyfriend deserves to have the best version of me. I can’t be my best self if he can’t touch me without me freaking out, and I like him touching me. So…”

I strip off my gloves. My hands have gotten soft, and this is gonna hurt like a bitch. I’ll deal with the pain and the split knuckles, because I need this. I need to do this. Rolling my neck, I say the words that make my stomach heave. “Shall we get started?”

I scream, fighting through the spasm of fear that cuts through me even though I’m the one who spoke those words, sending my fist into his face. My body tenses as soon as my hand connects with his jaw. I breathe through it. Reminding myself that he’s the one subdued. He can’t touch me. I hit him again. Then again. In his chest. His stomach. His face. Over and over, I channel my anger, panic, and terror into my fists. I let my mind go back to those days. To the helplessness and hopelessness I felt. To the memory of trying to fight when I couldn’t physically do so. I do what I’ve struggled not to do since being rescued. I turn into the savage animal they kept chained.

I unleash every promise I ever made to myself about what I’d do to him if I ever got the chance. I’m panting and crying. One more hit. I just need one more hit. I tell myself one more hit will fix it. Will fix me.

“LaReaux.” My arms are tired, but I can do one more hit. I ignore the man calling my name. I’m not Thea. I’m not LaReaux. I’m nobody but the patient they played with. The commodity put on display over and over again, the thing given to the man who only took pleasure in mentally tormenting me. My body would have healed. I would have dealt with being sexually violated if that’s what they’d have chosen to do. But this… cracking my mind so that the rest of my body acts counter to what I want. Will I ever fully recover from that?

“LaReaux. Sweetness…”

I hiccup on a long wail, falling to my knees. Wolfe is on his knees in front of me. He doesn’t touch me, but his presence is enough. “It didn’t help.” I say through broken sobs. “It. Didn’t. Help. It didn’t fix it.”

“That’s okay. I’m still so damn proud of you.” I blink up at him through watery eyes. “You confronted him and did what you thought you had to do. But Thea, nobody thinks you need to be fixed, because there’s nothing wrong with you.”

Hazel irises stare deeply into mine. “If I have to lie on my back tied to a bed while you fuck me for the rest of my life, I’m happy to do that. We both know I don’t need my hands to get you off.” His comment elicits a laugh through my tears.

“They’re done here.” He says, motioning towards the Phoenix team. “You ready to go?”

I nod, slowly getting to my feet. I look over at the lump of flesh against the wall. I didn’t even realize someone was holding his head up because he’s unconscious. I did that to him and I don’t care. The guy on the right holds my knife out to me. God, this must be weird to them. Having to watch me fall apart and listen to Wolfe flirt with me. “Sorry about that.” I say, trying to be more professional. “I’m ready to go.”

He says, “No apologies needed, ma’am,” while the agent on the left hefts the human meat sack over his shoulder and carries him out of the room. This time, I’m lucid when we exit the building and I get to watch as the charges ignite. They evacuated the patients, and anybody left in the building deserves to burn with it.

“Ma’am?” The third agent’s finger hovers over the detonator.

I give him the go ahead. “Light it up.”

Deacon

Tonight, Thea shared her unvarnished truth. She looked incredible, standing in the middle of the carnage. One of the Phoenix agents glanced nervously at me while she went to work on the orderly, as if he was expecting me to stop her. Thea needed to purge. It would’ve been wrong of me to interfere. Dr. Sagebrook says non-traditional methods of therapy are what Thea needs. I think her beating that guy’s face in qualifies.

I know how hard she’s been struggling to deal with her sensory issues. Some days are better than others. She thinks she failed because she cried while working her anger out on that bastard, but she didn’t see what I saw. Each yell fueled her punch. She had power behind it, the way I’d expect to see from anyone I train.

We got back to the building the agents are using as their California headquarters, an hour ago, and after a quick debrief, Thea and I came to the apartment building they’re using to house the agents.

I spent some time outside talking to one of the guys I know, and I’m just getting in the shower. I close my eyes, letting the water wash the first layer of blood off my skin, before grabbing the soap to scrub the rest of my body. I feel the rush of cool air as the shower door opens. It’s slowly replaced by Thea’s body heat against my back.

I say, “I figured you would have showered by now.”

“I did.”

“So you’re here to supervise mine?”

She moves around me to stand in the corner. My cock stiffens as my hungry gaze rakes over her body. “I don’t know about you, Sweetness, but I’m feeling a little needy after an afternoon of destruction, so maybe you shouldn’t be in here right now.”

Her nostrils flare, and she bites her lip as my hand moves to my dick. I see the changes even if she can’t. She’s almost back to her pre-capture weight, and she smiles more. Despite what she said in that rundown building that’s being used as a clinic, she is healing. Her body is slowly coming back online. “I’m glad you came to make sure I wash myself clean. I was about to rub one out thinking of your tits and pretty pussy, but now I have the real thing in front of me.”

I take a step back, leaning against the opposite wall. “Eyes on me as I fuck my hand, Sweetness. Can you do that for me?”

She nods, wetting her lips as she watches my thumb graze over the head of my dick. Thea thinks our relationship is suffering from lack of spontaneity, so I’ve been trying to show her that setting clearly defined limits and boundaries can be just as sexy.

“Your tits are so beautiful.” Reaching out, I brush my hand across her nipple. Eyes closed, she presses into my palm. When she opens them, she’s focused on my hand, reminding me of a feral little kitten.

“You wanna’ help or taste?”

“Taste.” Without hesitation, she sinks to her knees, taking me into her mouth. I continue to stroke the part of my dick, not being swallowed. “That’s a good girl. Use your tongue, just like that.”

Humming, I ask, “Can you swallow a little more?” She scoots closer, sliding further down my shaft, bobbing up and down, and grips my ass, pulling me deeper. “That feels so damn good. I’m almost there, Sweetness. You want me cumming down your throat?”

Her moan vibrates through my shaft. “Gonna, grip your hair now. You let me do all the work.” I gather her hair in my fist, holding it away from her face so I can watch her work, careful not to pull too hard, as I thrust into her warm mouth. “Aaagh! You’re such a good fucking girl. That’s it. All the way down. I wanna feel you swallow around me.”

My hips stall as the sound of a phone ringing breaks through the sex haze. “Shit.” I groan, pulling out of her mouth as a second phone rings.

“Ignore it.” Thea says, before dragging her tongue along the underside of my shaft again.

“Wish we could, but we’re both getting alerts and we’re a few hours away from town. We can’t risk anyone getting suspicious.”

Her face is red, moisture clings to her lashes as I help her get to her feet. “We don’t have to go back, you know. We can just stay with the team and move on to the next location.” She suggests as I turn off the water.

I get why she’s stalling. Life is simpler. Easier here, as opposed to her life in Canyon Falls. We go out, burn some shit up, and come back and relax. There, she’s always on guard, keeping up the facade of being a model prospect, while looking for ways to destroy Malcolm. The Trium is also working their way back into her life.

Finn joining us on the beach was a heat of the moment type of thing, but I should have known he’d use that opening to his advantage. I just worry Thea’s gonna be heartbroken again when this is all over with. Eventually, the truth about what she’s up to will come out and I’m not sure they’ll side with her against the father of the man they’ve sworn their lives and allegiance to.

“We have to go back. Every challenge matters. You agreed to this mission and you’re gonna finish what you started, so that when you walk away, it’s on your own terms and you’re free of this town’s baggage.”

Tucking a wet strand of hair behind her ear, I say, “And I’d rather not have to arrange for a kill squad to break you out of MISTIC, which is where The League will send you, if you’re still at the bottom of the leader board when the amnesty period is over.”

She pulls my face to hers, kissing me, until we’re both panting for air. When we break apart she says, “I love it when you get all vigilante justicey.”

I squeeze her ass, giving her one last kiss before stepping away. The cooling space between us helps calm my raging hard on. I open the glass door, snagging a towel off the side of the tub, and wrap her in it before tucking one around my waist.

We both check our phones. I was right. The League has issued another challenge.